COLUMN: Taking the ‘Christ’ out of Christmas could lead to worse

As we have already entered the Christmas season the perennial discussion of the naysayers and advocates of Christmas in the public square comes to the forefront.

On the one hand the term Christmas seems to want to be abolished altogether by some. Others regard it as a tradition that bodes well for us as a nation and has done so for over several centuries.

Let’s examine this vital question that permeates our nation this time of year. It needs to be addressed because it exemplifies two distinct viewpoints of how the world is seen.

One group relates it’s a prejudice against those who have a belief system that doesn’t include a Supreme Being, Creator or God. This is their own conclusion that seems to resonate in their thought process.

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Those that believe in a God, in this case Christians, have a firm belief that as a general greeting the “Christ” in Merry Christmas is worthy of being mentioned at this time of year. The disagreement seems to be that this favors Christianity as public places are used to depict the birth of Christ in manger scenes and other displays of the holiday.

However, historically there are reasons for the manger scenes, Merry Christmas as a greeting and other ways in which the holiday is celebrated. It comes down to simply that the vast majority of the populace in this nation are Christians.

Most of the first 123 colleges and universities in this nation were begun by Christians. Harvard, Yale, William and Mary, Princeton, New York University and Northwestern all have their origins in the Christian faith.

Not referencing another manifestation of the nation’s heritage would be a serious omission. What about the many hospitals, social agencies and the many parachurch groups who do great work year round?

If you take the Christ out of Merry Christmas, the daily positive role these organizations have in our nation’s life is negated. The Salvation Army is one that comes to mind and there scores of others.

The basic tenets of the season shouldn’t offend anyone. The ejection of Christ, church and faith in general have already been tried. One must look at all of the systems of the world that killed millions in the name of no religion at all.

Who produced the Hitlers, Stalins, Maos, Pol Pots and others of this world but a belief system that with all its force left God out of its thought process. It’s true that in the name of Christianity the church did have its darker moments like the crusades and Inquisition.

The 20th century claimed more lives because of the scourges of humanity referenced above. They destroyed more lives than all of the 2,000 years of the church’s existence.

For example, the Armenian Genocide was witnessed by many of Hitler’s officers. In WWII these same soldiers, now having high rank in the German military, ran Hitler’s slaughterhouse machine of war.

In fact, the Commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolph Hoess, was an eye witness to the Armenian Genocide. Being a soldier, he saw that no one was held responsible for what happened to the Armenians and was given the green light to initiate the Holocaust along with his other henchman.

Hitler also related when asked about ramifications as to what he was doing to the Jews, “Who today remembers the Armenians?” The answer was that no one remembered and the stage was set for the Holocaust!

The connection from not allowing Merry Christmas or manger scenes in public entities to be spoken or shown to having genocides, Holocausts and similar tragedies might be a stretch. Yet the constant attacks on people of faith in some way diminishes our humanity.

Further, it makes us a little less human and civil. In this Christmas Season we should be happy that there still is a time, among all of the bad news we are bombarded with, that there still is good news.

After all what’s wrong with a Christmas carol or two like Silent Night, It Came upon a Midnight Clear, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and so many others? Nothing!